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<B>ZLIB(3)</B> 						  <B>ZLIB(3)</B>


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<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
       zlib - compression/decompression library


</PRE>
<H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
       [see <I>include/bsd/zlib.h</I> for full description]


</PRE>
<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
       The  <I>zlib</I>  library  is  a general purpose data compression
       library.  The code is thread safe.  It provides	in-memory
       compression   and   decompression   functions,	including
       integrity checks of the uncompressed data.   This  version
       of  the	library  supports  only  one  compression  method
       (deflation) but other algorithms will be added  later  and
       will have the same stream interface.

       Compression  can  be  done in a single step if the buffers
       are  large  enough  (for  example  if  an  input  file  is
       mmap'ed), or can be done by repeated calls of the compres-
       sion function.  In the latter case, the	application  must
       provide	more  input  and/or consume the output (providing
       more output space) before each call.

       The library also supports reading  and  writing	files  in
       <I>gzip</I>  (.gz)  format  with  an interface similar to that of
       stdio.

       The library does  not  install  any  signal  handler.  The
       decoder	checks the consistency of the compressed data, so
       the library should never crash even in case  of	corrupted
       input.

       All functions of the compression library are documented in
       the file <I>zlib.h.</I>  The distribution source  includes  exam-
       ples  of  use  of  the  library	the  files  <I>example.c</I> and
       <I>minigzip.c</I>.

       A Java implementation of <I>zlib</I> is  available  in	the  Java
       Development Kit 1.1

	      http://www.javasoft.com/prod-
	      ucts/JDK/1.1/docs/api/Package-java.util.zip.html

       A Perl interface to <I>zlib</I>, written by Paul Marquess  (pmar-
       quess@bfsec.bt.co.uk)  is available at CPAN (Comprehensive
       Perl Archive Network) sites, such as:

	      ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/modules/by-mod-
	      ule/Compress/Compress-Zlib*

       A  Python  interface  to  <I>zlib</I>  written	by  A.M. Kuchling
       &lt;amk@magnet.com&gt; is available  from  the  Python  Software
       Association sites, such as:

	      ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/contrib/Encoding/zlib*.tar.gz


</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
       Questions about zlib should be sent to:

	      zlib@quest.jpl.nasa.gov or, if this fails,  to  the
	      author  addresses  given below.  The zlib home page
	      is:

	      http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/zlib/

       The data format used by the zlib library is  described  by
       RFC (Request for Comments) 1950 to 1952 in the files:

	      ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1950.txt (zlib format)
	      rfc1951.txt (deflate format)
	      rfc1952.txt (gzip format)

       These documents are also available in other formats from:

	      ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/png/documents/zlib/zdoc-
	      index.html


</PRE>
<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
       Version	1.1.3  Copyright  (C)  1995-1998 Jean-loup Gailly
       (jloup@gzip.org)  and   Mark   Adler   (madler@alumni.cal-
       tech.edu).

       This  software is provided "as-is," without any express or
       implied warranty.  In no event will the	authors  be  held
       liable  for any damages arising from the use of this soft-
       ware.  See the  distribution  directory	with  respect  to
       requirements governing redistribution.  The deflate format
       used by <I>zlib</I> was defined by Phil Katz.	The  deflate  and
       <I>zlib</I>  specifications  were  written  by	L. Peter Deutsch.
       Thanks to all the people who reported  problems	and  sug-
       gested  various improvements in <I>zlib</I>; who are too numerous
       to cite here.

       UNIX manual page  by  R.  P.  C.  Rodgers,  U.S.  National
       Library of Medicine (rodgers@nlm.nih.gov).

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